BCCI revises umpires’ salaries: Higher fees, merit-based promotion-relegation system
The BCCI has restructured its categories of umpires and substantially increased their daily fees while revising the match umpire payment structure. The board has also implemented a system of promotion and demotion of umpires based on merit, secretary Devajit Saikia said on Friday.
Saikia said there has been no revision of fees for umpires and match referees for almost a decade. Under the new structure, umpires will be divided into four grades, A, B, C and D, and will be paid Rs 60,000, Rs 50,000, Rs 40,000 and Rs 35,000 per day.
“There has been no revision of umpires’ fees for almost 10 years since 2017-18, so we have restructured their categories,” Saikia told reporters after the BCCI AGM on Friday.
“Earlier there were four categories, A+, A, B and C. Now we have restructured them into A, B, C and D. The daily fees have fundamentally increased. We have also increased the fees for refereeing matches and adjusted their fee structure,” he added.
The BCCI secretary said a “committee of umpires” will assess the officials and decide their assignments based on merit. Referees will also be promoted or relegated at the end of each domestic season.
“All their entries will be based on merit. We have an evaluation team under the panel of judges. They will be judged by the judges and given assignments based on their merit,” Saikia said.
“There will be a relegation and promotion system at the end of each season. Those who perform well, say 10 referees, will be promoted.
“Those at a higher level who fall short of the required standard will be demoted.
Saikia said the new system will keep referees on alert throughout the season and improve the standard of refereeing.
“This will make them very alert throughout the season and ultimately it will help the game of cricket. The future of some players depends on the decisions of the umpires, so they have to be very competent and alert,” he said.
Saikia said the BCCI would give its reply to the Supreme Court’s observations on whether the national board and its state associations should come under the National Sports Governance Act at the next hearing on October 27.
“As far as the Sports Act is concerned, our stand is very clear. There are a lot of things that the concerned body still needs to do,” Saikia said.
“Once these exercises are completed and once the BCCI comes under the Sports Act, a special notification has to be issued to make it a designated sport.”
“Until then, we have nothing to do. Whenever the announcement comes, we will immediately start acting and work according to the new rules.
“So to date, there is nothing that has been heard in the Supreme Court. We will file a clarification on October 27, when the matter will be listed further.”
AGE FRAUD RULES UPDATED
Saikia also said that the BCCI has again advertised for the post of Head of Sports Science.
He added that the IPL should start by the end of March 2027.
The BCCI has also updated its anti-age fraud policy and issued new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for state cricket associations.
“We have re-reviewed our age fraud policy and updated it. New standard operating procedures were issued today and will be followed by all state-affiliated units in their age group teams,” Saikia said.
State associations have also been asked to support physically challenged cricketers.
“Another big thing is that we have discussed involving and activating our state associations to support cricketers in the physically challenged categories,” Saikia said.
– The end
Issued by:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
18 Sep 2026 22:59 IST